HISTORY, HERE SHE COMES
Serena’s march toward career Slam record begins with ease
THREE hundred and fifty-four days later, Serena Williams returned to the scene of the crime, to Arthur Ashe Stadium — where last Sept. 11 she shocked the world with her semifinal defeat to Roberta Vinci, canceling the U.S. Open coronation.
Williams had sought the Grand Slam grimly and joylessly, perhaps ultimately undo ne by the relentless focus on her throughout the fortnight as she attempted to match t he fe at accomplished in tennis open era by just Steffi Graf in 1988 and Margaret Court in 1970.
Yet, on this Tuesday night — after completing a no fuss, no muss, reassuring 6-3,6-3 first-round victory over Ekaterina Makarova — Williams insisted her memories from 2015 were good ones.
“I had a great experience,” she claimed. “I was going for something no one had done in a long time. Yeah, it didn’t end wonderful for me or the way I wanted it to end. But it was all I could do. That’s all I could do.
“If I could make the semis this year, I would be excited about it. I need to at least do something.”
That is her story and she apparently is going to stick to it.
Williams is sticking with it, that’s for sure, as once again she chases history and Graf in Flushing. This time, the object is to surpass Graf ’s open record 22 career Grand Slam titles,
which Williams equaled with her seventh Wimbledon triumph this June. Court holds the all-time record of 24, but captured 13 of her championships before 1968, when the game was split in pro and amateur tours. With all due respect to Billie Jean King, but suggesting Court holds the record is tantamount to suggesting Ichiro Suzuki rather than Pete Rose is baseball’s all-time hit king.
There are obstacles in Williams’ path as she seeks this milestone at age 34, those that will be more difficult to overcome than Makarova — a solid veteran who didn’t have the game or anywhere near the answers to persevere in this match, during which constant chatter within the stands was audible throughout.
Not only are there Vinci’s lurking around every corner, Williams is dealing with a shoulder injury that contributed to her third-round defeat in the Rio Olympics and kept her off the court for much of the summer.
The shoulder did not appear to be an issue against Makarova, against whom she served 12 aces against just one doublefault, but Williams has made adjustments and allowances in order to cope with the pain and discomfort.
She wore black sleeves on her arms that matched her snazzy black and purple outf it. She intermittently applied “cupping” therapy between games. The shoulder, Williams said, felt good, but she also acknowledged the day after (Wednesday in this case) would be more informative as to her condition.
“I feel OK,” she said. “I didn’t play as much as I’d like to on hard courts [before this],
but there’s not much I can do about it. Usually, [I had been feeling pain] the day of, but as time has progressed and this week it’s been the day after, which is really a positive thing.
“The cupping has been good. I always liked the way that felt even before I knew you could use it for recovery. And the sleeve isn’t only cool, it’s functional.”
The No. 1 ranking Williams had held for a record-tying 186 weeks since Feb. 18, 2013 — with, naturally, Graf, whose husband, Andre Agassi, was at Ashe on Tuesday night — is in jeopardy, there for Angelique Kerber’s taking if the German can win the tournament.
Asked her thoughts on the No. 1 ranking being in jeopardy, Williams shut down that line of inquiry.
“I don’t answer those questions,” she said, but she did talk enthusiastically about her first Open (and major) title in 1999, when, she said, she “knew it and have never been so sure before or after [about winning a tournament].”
Every step Williams takes is one more on her march into history. One year later, it begins anew.